Chapter 6 - The Life He Couldn't Control
Dating Massimo Pascale was nothing like rehabilitating him.
It was harder.
During therapy, he occasionally listened.
Outside therapy, he was impossible.
“You brought security?”
I stared at the black SUV parked outside my university.
Massimo leaned against his cane.
“One car.”
“There are four men inside.”
“Three.”
“The driver counts.”
“He doesn't.”
“He absolutely counts.”
Massimo sighed.
“Tessa, Anthony's associates are still being investigated.”
“And I refuse to live like a prisoner.”
His expression changed.
“I know.”
That mattered.
Three months earlier, he would have simply ordered everyone around.
Now he looked toward Luca.
“Pull them back.”
Luca blinked.
“How far?”
“Two blocks.”
I crossed my arms.
“Massimo.”
“Compromise.”
“One block.”
“Done.”
Luca muttered something in Italian.
Our relationship wasn't easy.
Massimo had spent his adult life solving problems with power.
I refused to become one of those problems.
Then March arrived.
My doctoral committee scheduled my final clinical evaluation.
The night before, I was terrified.
Massimo found me sitting at his kitchen counter surrounded by notes.
“You'll pass.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“You can't intimidate my professors.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
I stared at him.
“Why did you hesitate?”
He smiled.
“Habit.”
The next afternoon, I walked out of the university building and found Massimo waiting.
Alone.
No visible guards.
No dramatic convoy.
Just Massimo.
Standing.
Without his cane.
I stopped.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting.”
“Where's your cane?”
“In the car.”
“You're not ready.”
“I walked from the car.”
“How far?”
“Thirty yards.”
“Massimo!”
He grinned.
“You're angry.”
“You could fall.”
“But I didn't.”
I hurried toward him.
Then he held out an envelope.
“What is that?”
“Open it.”
Inside was a letter.
My hands began shaking.
“Massimo…”
He smiled.
“Congratulations, Doctor Fitzgerald.”
I'd passed.
I threw my arms around him.
He staggered backward.
“Tessa!”
“Sorry!”
He laughed and held me tighter.
For several seconds, Boston disappeared.
Then I pulled back.
“How did you know before me?”
“I know people.”
“You bribed someone?”
“No.”
“Threatened?”
“No.”
“Massimo.”
“Camila called.”
I laughed.
“That woman cannot keep secrets.”
“She kept mine.”
“What secret?”
His expression became serious.
“I sold part of the business.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The parts I don't want anymore.”
I understood exactly what he meant.
“Why?”
He looked down at his legs.
“When I couldn't walk, I thought losing control was the worst thing that could happen to me.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“Then you showed me control isn't the same thing as living.”
I didn't speak.
“I can't erase who I've been, Tessa.”
“I know.”
“But I can decide who I become.”
That was the moment I realized my job had ended months earlier.
Massimo didn't need a therapist anymore.
He needed a future.
May you like
And somehow, I had become part of it.
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